Ludwigsort was founded in 1314. In 1593 a paper mill (Papiermühle) was built here. On 10 October 1597 Margrave Georg Friedrich granted the “paper mill” to Georg Osterberger of Königsberg. The mill had changed hands several times by 1799, when it was bought together with its lands by Ludwig von Holstein-Beck, who renamed the estate after himself: Ludwigsort. In 1780 the paper mill was demolished, and its infrastructure (the mill) became part of the Charlottenthal estate (Dubki). In 1816 the Ludwigsort estate was acquired by Gottlieb Jakob Theophil Nanke, a teacher from Schirwindt (Kutuzovo), and in 1858 by Georg Douglas of Königsberg, son of the founder of the Neukuhren resort and lessee of the amber mines. In 1858 Ludwigsort had 13 houses.
In the mid-19th century a Neoclassical manor house was built in Ludwigsort.
By this time the Ludwigsort estate formed a Gutsbezirk in the Landkreis of Heiligenbeil (Mamonovo). The estate belonged to the parish of Pörschken (Novo-Moskovskoye). On 2 August 1853 the Braunsberg (Braniewo) – Königsberg railway, which passed through Ludwigsort, was opened.
In 1874 Amtsbezirk No. 7 Ludwigsort was established in the Landkreis of Heiligenbeil. It comprised two rural communities, Patersort (the Beregovoye settlement, now part of Ladushkin) and Schwanis (Sosnovka), as well as two Gutsbezirke, Charlottenthal (Dubki) and Ludwigsort (Ladushkin). The owners of the Ludwigsort estate served as heads of the Gutsbezirk: Douglas in 1874–80 and 1884–95, Julius Schmidt in 1926–30, and from 1930 Walter Diebert, a leaseholder from Ludwigsort. By 1883 the Gutsbezirk of Wendelau (Bolshedorozhnoye, in part) had also become part of the Ludwigsort Amtsbezirk.
In 1894 a railway station was opened in Ludwigsort.
In 1899 the Ludwigsort estate was bought by Helene von Simpson (née von der Groeben); it later passed to Emma Schmidt, who owned it until 1945.
On 17 September 1926 the Gutsbezirk of Ludwigsort was converted into a rural community of the same name. On 30 September 1928 the Gutsbezirk of Charlottenthal was abolished and incorporated into the Ludwigsort community. On 12 July 1929 the communities of Laukitten (Bolshedorozhnoye) and Rippen (Sovkhoznoye) were added to the Ludwigsort Amtsbezirk. The Ludwigsort Amtsbezirk now consisted of five rural communities: Ludwigsort (Ladushkin), Laukitten (Bolshedorozhnoye), Patersort (the Beregovoye settlement, now part of Ladushkin), Rippen (Sovkhoznoye, pictured below) and Schwanis (Sosnovka). Its composition remained unchanged thereafter until 1945.
In 1937–38 a Catholic church was built in Ludwigsort.
Patersort was a village forming a rural community in the Landkreis of Heiligenbeil (Mamonovo). The village belonged to the parish of Pörschken (Novo-Moskovskoye). The community also included the villages of Schneewalde (Ladushkin, in part) and Domnieksruh (54°35'16'' N 20°10'24'' E). In 1874 the Patersort community was incorporated into the newly established Amtsbezirk of Ludwigswalde (Ladushkin).
Ludwigsort was taken by troops of the 11th Guards and 5th Armies on 13 March 1945.
On 7 September 1946 Ludwigsort was renamed in honour of I.M. Ladushkin, who was killed in the fighting for the town.
On 1 September 1946 a school opened in Ladushkin. From 7 September 1946 to 12 December 1962 the town was the centre of Ladushkin District. On 17 November 1947 Patersort was renamed the settlement of Beregovoye. By 1955 the Pribrezhnoye state fur farm was operating there. Since 12 December 1962 Ladushkin has belonged to Bagrationovsk District. By 1975 the Beregovoye settlement had been incorporated into the town of Ladushkin.
Sights: monument to I.M. Ladushkin (1945), memorial to Soviet soldiers (862 men, 1981), the 800-year-old oak (pictured above) and a monument to it.
Coordinates: 54°34'14'' N 20°10'28'' E (centre, Ludwigsort), 54°34'36'' N 20°10'48'' E (Schneewalde), 54°35'02'' N 20°08'53'' E (Patersort).
Population trends: 1816 – 20, 1858 – 141, 1864 – 151, 1885 – 175, 1905 – 186, 1910 – 243, 1959 – 1,651, 1970 – 2,285, 1979 – 2,871, 1984 – 3,000, 1989 – 3,108, 2002 – 3,796, 2009 – 3,904, 2010 – 3,787, 2012 – 3,873, 2014 – 3,952, 2015 – 4,068, 2016 – 4,025, 2017 – 4,007 inhabitants.
Population of the Ludwigsort Gutsbezirk and community: 1885 – 175, 1910 – 243, 1933 – 762, 1939 – 1,253 inhabitants.
Population of Beregovoye: 300 (1984).
Population of Patersort: 273 (1910).
Present-day photos by Mikhail Ogorodnikov.
Translated from Russian with the help of AI (Claude, Anthropic), October 2026.
